Dana White Shares Out Stacked Line-up For Planned, May 9th Card, Apex Facility to Host Events For The “Foreseeable Future”

One thing we’ve learned in recent weeks is that plans can change really fast as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. But, Dana White is reporting that the UFC is working on holding an event, May 9th, and the line-up they’re putting together is ridiculously stacked.

White says the Apex Facility in Las Vegas will host upcoming events

Recently the UFC’s attempts to hold an event on April 18th on tribal lands in California where halted, over concerns officials raised regarding holding an event during the pandemic. After that happened, White insisted the UFC would find a way to host cards in the not too distant future.

Well, more recently, the UFC President sent the following email to Variety.

“We built the APEX facility next door just in time to save the day from this pandemic,” White said. “Live fights will be produced out of there starting next month and for the foreseeable future.”

Now, if you’re a big MMA fan you’ll likely recall that the UFC was looking at hosting events at the Apex Facility in Vegas when the pandemic first began to impact the U.S. But, the Nevada Commission decided to temporarily ban any type of combat sports event, and Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak enacted a stay-at-home order through April.

The UFC, according to Variety, is expecting those restrictions to be loosened next month. The events would be hosted with no crowd in attendance. Details regarding the safety measures the UFC plans to take, on account of the coronavirus, were not included in the story.

White has also said that the UFC is working on holding fights on a private island as a means to facilitate international bouts. 

Proposed stacked card

In a different interview with ESPN, White shared the line-up below for the planned, May 9th card. Not all the bouts have been finalized.

Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje – interim lightweight championship

Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz – bantamweight championship

Amand Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer – featherweight championship

Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar

Cerrone vs. Pettis

Greg Hardy vs. Yorgan de Castro

Aleksei Oleinik vs. Fabricio Werdum

Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Uriah Hall

Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price

Charles Rosa vs. Bryce Mitchell

Now, if all of the fights above are signed, and if the card happens, then clearly this would be a huge, huge event.

If you’re wondering about the possibility of Khabib Nurmagmedov fighting Ferguson, instead of Gaethje, even if Russia’s coronavirus travel ban was lifted, the champ will be observing Ramadan by then.

So, will the UFC be able to pull this off? Could we seen an event happening in less than a month’s time?